(Korak and Vanessa's POV)
-What do you think of him?- Vanessa asked calmly, looking at Black Spider's bald head. The man himself seemed completely like a brute, but she had seen him fight. She thought he would charge forward and punch something like a pugilist, but instead he kept firing arrows continuously, dodging as he annihilated his opponents.
-Strong.- That was Korak's simple reply, his voice sounding extremely deep.
The woman looked at her "bird" companion, and rolled her eyes, but she didn't pursue the subject further, she knew him well enough to know that Korak wasn't one to waste words.
Vanessa looked at the rest of Black Spider's crew. Trax, with his rough face, looked like a tough guy, she'd seen him fight, smashing everything in his path with his fists. Unlike Black Spider, he was clearly an open book.
Rick wasn't bad, his sword swung forward, covered in pugilistic flames, cutting down everything in his path, and even that little creature on his shoulders helped by hindering enemies Rick couldn't see.
That was it, it was a very small crew for a Super Grade A, but considering he was subordinate to that woman, it wasn't surprising at all.
Vanessa sighed, she thought of the Dragon Emperor and her fists clenched, she seemed to be making a difficult decision.
//-//
(Black Spider's POV)
Black Spider was eating with the captain, only he and his crew were present. Rick had already grabbed a bottle of wine and was drinking straight from his mouth, his face flushed with satisfaction.
The Godorian's lips trembled, he had an extremely reluctant look, but in the end he opened a second bottle and poured Black Spider, Trax, and Slugcat.
The little one also seemed excited, her body stretched out as she stuck her head into the glass, drinking enthusiastically.
Trax simply downed the wine and stared at the commander, clearly with a look that said: "Why aren't you serving more?"
Black Spider was the only one drinking with class, but he was making a great effort not to burst out laughing, Commander Godorian's face was getting harder and harder, yet, with almost mechanical movements, he served Trax again.
Only for Trax to turn the wine over again and continue staring at it.
Trax: ...
Commander Godorian: ...
Black Spider couldn't take it anymore, bursting into laughter while banging on the table, leaving Commander Godorian extremely embarrassed.
He really wanted to punch himself for having such an idea, each of those bottles cost 10,000 Enas!
-That's enough, Trax, stop messing with the man.- Black Spider stopped laughing, but kept a smile on his face as he spoke.
Trax let out a growl expressing his contempt and stopped staring at the Godorian, turning to the food and beginning to eat.
The commander maintained a hard smile on his face as Black Spider sighed and spoke. - So... who was that girl and the bird-man beside her?
Rick stopped drinking and also stared at the commander, with evident curiosity.
-Ah, those two? They're mercenaries hired to handle unforeseen events like this. Due to the large number of commercial spaceships in Godora, some of them need to outsource certain tasks, such as escorting.- The commander shrugged.
-So that woman is single?- Rick asked excitedly.
The commander looked at Rick strangely, his resentment returning when he saw Rick still holding the wine bottle firmly in his hand, but even so he swallowed it and replied. -I have no idea, they were hired at another starfield.
Of course, the man's antipathy was greater than simply because of the wine, Rick is half Godorian and half Elf, that is, a hybrid.
If it weren't for Black Spider, the xenophobic commander would have already thought Rick was part of the Dark Star group and killed him during the fight.
Rick didn't realize the commander disliked him, instead, he was still thinking about the woman. Even if he did realize it, he'd gotten used to it a long time ago. Nine out of ten Godorians are racist, the only difference is who shows it directly and who hides it behind a cynical smile.
Ringo, of course, could notice, but he didn't care much. Not that he disliked Rick and didn't care about him, but he knew the blame wasn't entirely on the Godora people, their culture was so deeply ingrained that the vast majority of them disliked hybrids.
What should Ringo do? Go around killing them all? In the end, he could only act according to the actions. If someone doesn't like hybrids, that's fine as long as they keep it to themselves.
Of course, if Rick really cared about it, Ringo could make an effort to go after Rossellin to resolve the racial conflict in Godora sooner, but he didn't care, so Ringo would wait for Han Xiao.
Doing this thankless task would fall on old Han's head.
Rick nodded upon hearing the commander's words. Black Spider could swear that this man hadn't heard a word the commander said and had only filtered it down to something like: "Yeah, completely single, go for it, stud!"
Looking away from the idiot, he changed the subject, as if the question were just any old question, chatting about trivialities with the commander.
Trax didn't stop eating, Rick drank while occasionally letting out strange giggles, and Slugcat was already sprawled across the table, completely drunk.
Fortunately, the man seemed accustomed to dealing with mercenaries, so he ignored this group of "thugs" and instead chatted animatedly with Black Spider about whatever topic came up.
He went so far as to suggest that his wife is very beautiful and approachable, and even that if he were interested, the commander also liked men.
Black Spider's lips trembled furiously when he heard this, and once again he decided to stay far away from the Godorians.
In the end, that was enough for Black Spider, he left his contact information and promised to help if the commander needed anything, at a cost, of course. The man was satisfied.
They left soon after, Black Spider holding Slugcat's limp body in his arm and Trax with Rick, already unconscious, on his shoulders, when he woke up he would probably regret not having tried to win over the pale beauty, but Ringo's clone had already seen the future and knew that Rick would be very excited when he woke up, because...
-Black Spider? - A soft, cold voice caught the attention of Black Spider and Trax, who were walking unhurriedly towards the hangar where their ship was already parked.
Black Spider turned and looked at the woman followed by the crow man. He tilted his head slightly, expressing confusion, then asked. -You are?
-Vanessa Lothrar.- the woman replied indifferently, then pointed to the man beside her. -That's Korak Albatross.
Korak only nodded briefly, the movement was so short it was barely seen.
Black Spider nodded. -That's Trax.- He pointed to the only crew member awake.
Vanessa nodded briefly to Trax before turning her gaze back to Black Spider. -Do you have time to talk?
Black Spider raised an eyebrow and nodded. -Follow me, I was heading to my ship, we can talk there.
They both nodded as Black Spider started walking, Trax barely glanced at them for a second, only letting out a slight growl that could almost be considered a "Hi" or maybe a "Fuck you", who knows.
The four walked leisurely through the ship, where the Godorians greeted them respectfully, more specifically Black Spider. By this point, everyone had already seen the recording of the fight, so there was clear fanaticism in their eyes.
After a few minutes, they finally reached Trihexa.
Trax led Rick and Slugcat away while Black Spider sat down with Vanessa and Korak. The two sides stared at each other, Black Spider didn't offer any drinks, just stared, clearly suggesting they could start talking.
Korak remained silent, staring into nothingness. Ringo felt his entire focus was on maintaining his sanity, so he didn't comment, instead looking at Vanessa.
-I want to join your mercenary group.- the woman finally said.
Black Spider wasn't surprised, he'd seen this result before. This was the first time someone had come directly to him asking for it.
He tilted his head slightly and asked. -And what would be the reason?